Boomers
I think it is easy to look at a younger generation and think of them as dumb and selfish. But let's take a look at the Boomers.
For me, my story begins with the breaking of the unions. My dad was a active union buster and I remember sitting in the back seat of his Audi while he laid his holstered 357 on the passenger seat beside him while he drove past the line of angry picketers. While I have never worked in a union shop, I am sure unions had their problems and it is understandable that many believed eliminating them would actually be better for the workers. I can imagine bloated egos and salaries to union managers that irked many and it being an easy sell that their elimination would free up money that could compensate the workers. This idea is in line with "trickle down economics: What is good for the company will be good for the worker. "Take care of yourself, hard workers will be rewarded. We will no longer be weighed down by union regulations and the lazy workers they protect."
The unintended consequence of eliminating the unions was to stagnate wages, eliminate benefits, raid pension funds and increase CEO compensation many fold.
So now the hard working boomers are seeing their pensions disappearing, so they need to come up with a new plan to secure that golden retirement they are working so hard for. Now the reasoning becomes, building equity in our homes is great, so they reason that owning a second home as in investment is a great idea and they build a tax code that supports, even encourages it.
It was at this time, everything in all mountain towns in Colorado began to radically change. An absolute explosion of vacation homes started popping up. A friend of my dads, who was a high school shop teacher, had a brilliant home in Vail on a small stream
For me, my story begins with the breaking of the unions. My dad was a active union buster and I remember sitting in the back seat of his Audi while he laid his holstered 357 on the passenger seat beside him while he drove past the line of angry picketers. While I have never worked in a union shop, I am sure unions had their problems and it is understandable that many believed eliminating them would actually be better for the workers. I can imagine bloated egos and salaries to union managers that irked many and it being an easy sell that their elimination would free up money that could compensate the workers. This idea is in line with "trickle down economics: What is good for the company will be good for the worker. "Take care of yourself, hard workers will be rewarded. We will no longer be weighed down by union regulations and the lazy workers they protect."
The unintended consequence of eliminating the unions was to stagnate wages, eliminate benefits, raid pension funds and increase CEO compensation many fold.
So now the hard working boomers are seeing their pensions disappearing, so they need to come up with a new plan to secure that golden retirement they are working so hard for. Now the reasoning becomes, building equity in our homes is great, so they reason that owning a second home as in investment is a great idea and they build a tax code that supports, even encourages it.
It was at this time, everything in all mountain towns in Colorado began to radically change. An absolute explosion of vacation homes started popping up. A friend of my dads, who was a high school shop teacher, had a brilliant home in Vail on a small stream